


Muggle Ingenuity

by thequidditchpitch_archivist



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Book 6: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Drabble, Ficlet, Fluff, Not Epilogue Compliant, Post War, Post-War, Romance, The Quidditch Pitch: Eternity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-11-26
Updated: 2008-11-26
Packaged: 2018-10-27 14:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10811181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thequidditchpitch_archivist/pseuds/thequidditchpitch_archivist
Summary: Draco Malfoy's wedding day is not what he expected





	Muggle Ingenuity

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Annie, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [The Quidditch Pitch](http://fanlore.org/wiki/The_Quidditch_Pitch), which went offline in 2015 when the hosting expired, at a time I was not able to renew it. I contacted Open Doors, hoping to preserve the archive using an old backup, and began importing these works as an Open Doors-approved project in April 2017. Open Doors e-mailed all authors about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact us using the e-mail address on [The Quidditch Pitch collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/thequidditchpitch/profile).
> 
>  **Author's notes:** Originally written for the nosmutforyou community on Live Journal

Draco paced back and forth. His feet seemed to keep time with the racing of his heart as if one stopped the other might do so as well. Thus, he continued. Step-by-step, heartbeat-by-heartbeat, moving him forward when he would have preferred to dig in his heels and refuse to go any farther.

This was what was expected of him. He'd said it over and over again in an attempt to convince himself. With each new litany of words, he wanted more and more to put his feet into motion and run far and fast. It didn't matter where. It didn't matter how far. As long as it was away from here and a commitment that would last a lifetime. It wasn't the commitment that bothered him so much as _who_ he was committing to.

Astoria Greengrass lacked red hair and a fiery temper to match. She lacked the infuriating ability to put him in his place, generally in the most public and embarrassing of ways. She lacked the beauty of a smile that lit up a room and sent shivers down his spine. Astoria did not make his blood boil. She did not make him want to do his best simply because she might be watching... or laughing… most often at him, rather than with him.

Astoria Greengrass was not Ginny Weasley. It was Ginny who prompted him to put his best foot forward, when he would have settled for far less than mediocre.

He lifted his wand and aimed a spell at the door, but just as he suspected it was useless. His father had taken all precautions to make sure he would go through with this marriage. There would be no running away if Lucius Malfoy had anything to say about it.

And then, most unexpectedly, there was a jiggling of the handle and hushed words outside the door. He leaned in and barely made out what was being said in low tones.

"Do you want to be the one to tell her we let him get married to someone else?"

"But seriously, George, Malfoy? What does she see in him?"

"You ask that like I might have some inkling of an idea, Fred? Does it matter? I can't stand to see her cry any— Voila!"

The door swung back and smacked Draco squarely in the forehead. He would have screamed his agony if two identical, freckled hands hadn't covered his mouth.

"Shhh!" said Fred.

He removed his hand from Draco's mouth.

"But how did you manage to get through the wards my father put up?"

Fred and George each held up a bobby pin. "That's the trouble with Slytherins," said George. "You don't have the proper respect for Muggle ingenuity."

"Now, are you going to stand here until your father forces you to marry or are you coming with us?" asked Fred.

One step closer to freedom.

One step closer to Ginny.

Draco stepped forward and never looked back.

~Fin.~


End file.
